Humanity & Human

 

Miracles in Daily Life – 3

 

[email protected]

 

After six months foundation training, Arif was posted to a new station. New job, lot of responsibilities beset him. Arif took refuse in that and started passing his days.

After couple of months, at one post mid-day, Arif’s boss called him to his office for a telephone call in his office telephone.

Arif received the phone.

-Hello. Voice of his father in law on the other side.

Arif got a shock. He groped for words to say.

-Arif, you have become father of a girl. He paused and gulped a sob to prepare himself.

-Divorce letter could not be served till your daughter was born. Now the letter will be posted, you will receive the copy soon. Marriage of Lisa has been arranged, she will leave for London in a couple of days. She will be married there. Your daughter would stay with us, don’t worry about her. You may take her at your convenience.

He finished the conversation almost in one breath and hung up, without waiting for any query from the other side, as if he read that out.

Arif had only smattering acquaintance with his father in law. He seemed to be a very down to earth gentleman. The telephone conversation from him seemed like ‘reading out of a difficult dialogue by a very raw actor.’

Arif did not utter a single word.

Having dropped the receiver he came back to his office.

The emotional arousing for Lisa, his wife or even the marriage have gone obtuse ever since. Those are no more than some unpleasant facts of life. Those aspects cannot stoke up any more emotion in him.

‘But now he has become a father! His own blood is flowing in the vein of the soft heavenly body. His child is his own integral part!’

The thought stoked up an unpremeditated feeling of mixed merry and morose, overpowered him into a unique emotion.

Lest it catches others attention, he quickly called his attendant and asked him not to allow anybody in as he felt sick and closed the door.

The pain pent-up for so many days and months gave way to tears. It started rolling down his cheeks, wetting his lips -so warm and salty. He was in a fix what to do next.

It rained last night. There were still blowing sporadic gusty wind. There was a mango tree by his back side window of his office. The storm broke down the branches of trees and severed the green mangoes scattered under the tree. Rain made number of puddles under the tree clearly visible through the window. The gust of wind were fluttering the window curtain every now and then.

Arif drew the curtain and sat on a chair by the window.

The bed under the tree was strewn with immature mangoes, some were yet to come out of flowers.

‘Nature knows no clemency’. Arif thought.

The tree stood helpless looking at her fallen yields.

-Storm has destroyed so many mangoes just in its incubation! The tree adorned its branches with flowers and nourished those with a dream of full fruition. But alas, one stroke of gusty wind has shattered the whole dream. Arif was lost thinking.

He got back to normal with the chirping sound of two small size birds. They were chirping and scratching and pecking around under the tree. There lied a broken nest nearby. Arif tried and took a close look. Two broken eggs with two dead chicks were also found near the nest.

-May be, they are the unborn chicks of the birds pecking around. Arif thought.

The birds pecked the dead chicks in the process also.

-Are they pecking their own dead chicks in affection! Or they are lamenting and cursing for the devastating act committed to them! Arif wondered.

He tried to take even closer look.

‘No it seemed that they are pecking the dead chicks as an object among many others to collect food. Birds don’t have any feeling towards the dead ones be their own or others.’ Arif was surprised at the discovery.

-The Mother Nature has destroyed the bird’s nest, killed their chicks in incubation and also destroyed the immature mangoes including some at flowering stage i.e. in literal sense- nipped in the bud! Arif unmindfully heaved a sigh.

The chirping of two birds again jarred up Arif from his thought.

Birds were bathing in the puddles and played in it. The brunches being light after shedding extra load of their flower and green tiny fruits were fluttering in the gentle breeze. The inclined sun peeked through the dancing branches and reflected in the puddle. It made a spectacle of complete ensemble of nature harmony.

The birds fluttered their wings repeatedly to shrug off the water. They spruced up fully and flew away to start things afresh.

A heavenly feeling instilled in Arif. He felt complete and easy.

Arif entered his attached shower and closed the door. He released the basin tap full throttle and wept to his heart content. The sound of cry shot over the din of gushing out of tap water and entered his own ear. The groaning sound having mixed with the sound of running water made a heavenly aura.

Arif felt so light, so good and blessed like never before. Having washed and cleaned all unredeemed pain, Arif felt as light as feather.

He swelled his eyes crying.

He sprinkled cool basin water over his face over and over again. Arif looked at himself in the mirror closely for sometimes and thought about how he passed so many days. He combed and spruced up his hair.

For first time, some gray hair especially at the parting caught his eyes. 

-He has become old. He thought and smiled to himself.

-He is a father now. Arif reminded himself. A strange feeling ran down his spine. He blushed a bit.

An unknown sense of pleasure overtook him totally.

-She must be looking like Lisa’!

Arif thought, but could not really recollect the face of Lisa. The face gathered dust in last nine to ten months and became blurred.

After repeated attempt to forget, has made the memory hazy.

Arif saw himself in the mirror closely and talked to himself.

-My daughter is my blood, maybe she looks like me. He thought to himself.

-What name they gave, who knows!

-Lisa waited so long only to give birth of his daughter, otherwise she would have left much early to start her new life. How could she erase that few days’ memory so easily to start life afresh?

-No use of ruminating over the spilt milk. Arif heaved a sigh to empty his chest. He ventured to shrug off the thoughts.

Arif came out with a beatific expression on his face.

-Now his life is full.

-What a pleasure, what a peace, what a feeling! He thought. 

He called his attendant, gave him money to buy sweet.

He distributed sweet to all his colleagues and broke the news. He went to his boss with a packet of sweet and also gave him the news.

Arif used to be fretful if anyone broached the subject of marriage with him and always changed the topic. But now with the news of becoming a father, Arif was overwhelmed and his emotion overflowed.

All around him were agape and passed various comments.

But that did not bother Arif a bit.

-Now his life is as normal as others. He thought.

Arif rang his mother and described everything, and also asked her to bring back his daughter as soon as possible.

Having felt her son was as lively as earlier, his mother, Salma Begum became very happy indeed. She assured her son that she would do whatever it takes to bring her granddaughter as soon as possible.